𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧.

•𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞•

Sonic sat on the far left of the bench as he ate his remaining chilidog in silence, his bites very controlled and small compared to how he normally pigged out on the food. Shadow, on the far right, had his eyes closed, his deep colored fur soaking up the late morning sun.

The blue hedgehog finished his chilidog and licked his fingers, unable to help but cast a glance Shadow's way. He could just barely make out the faint shimmering colors of deep jade and midnight purple that glistened within the ebony quills, a somewhat shocking picture to the azure hero. He has more color to him?

"I've never noticed those colors in your quills?" Shadow's eyes fluttered open and he turned his head to look at the hedgehog. "Amy said the same thing. Are you both blind? They're bright red-"
"Not the red. I mean..." He reached over and plucked a specific deep, sea green quill from Shadow's head, the project wincing at the sudden pinch. He held the peculiarly colored quill in front of the two, Shadow's rubied eyes fixing to the spine in wonder. It glistened that deep, alluring green under the dawn's slowly fading light.

As the sun hit high-noon the dark turquoise fell to Shadow's regular dull ebony shade, leaving it colorless once more. The striped hedgehog blinked. "Wow."
"Never seen yourself in the mirror outside before?" Sonic smiled and placed the quill between his teeth, using it as a toothpick. Shadow took a cigarette from the pack he kept in his quills, a mental note being made that he'd have to buy some more soon.

He lit the gasper and lifted it to his lips, inhaling the intoxicating fumes and letting the warmth burn the back of his throat. Sonic looked at his dark counterpart. "Let me have a hit?" he asked and scooted a little closer to Shadow. The agent shook his head. "Your lungs aren't as resilient as mine. You'll destroy them if you start on these little shits," Shadow grumbled and glared at his cigarette. He took a fresh drag and exhaled, smoke leaking between his tan lips.

"So you know they're bad for you," Sonic remarked with a chuckle and placed his hands behind his head, crossing his legs. Shadow nodded. "But I can't quit. I promised Rouge I'd try. But I didn't manage. Lucky I'm immortal, eh?" The blue one shrugged. "If you really wanted to quit you would. If you're not fully committed, you'll fall back to it." Sonic made a fair point. If he really had wished to stop smoking, he would have made a proper effort. But instead he had just set the smokes aside in his penthouse and hoped to forget about them instead of throwing all of them away the second he made the promise.

"I guess it's just a comfort to me at this point," Shadow admitted. Sonic was listening intently now, both ears perked, "Oh, so you do need comforting at times. Hah! I knew Amy was wrong. She said you were heartless and didn't have any kind of emotions." Shadow scowled. "I know that's not true though. So you don't have to worry about what they think." While Sonic's voice brought a sense of calmness over the hedgehog, he couldn't allow himself to be seen through so easily.

"What makes you believe your opinion of me matters in my eyes?"

Sonic's ears slicked themselves back for a fraction of a second and he slid away from Shadow, his two hands being set on his knees awkwardly. "Aha... Yeah, sorry..." And, for what felt like the thousandth time, the two hedgehogs sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"Hey, Shads," Sonic spoke once Shadow had finished his cigarette and crushed it under his foot. "Why don't we head back to my place for the rest of the afternoon? We could watch a movie together. Your pick! I don't mind," Sonic offered happily and sat up a little bit. Shadow raised an eyeridge curiously. "It's your birthday. You should get to pick the movie." An internal sigh of relief resonated within the blue blur. He didn't refuse my offer.

"We'll decide when we get there. I'm just happy to have you around. You're not so bad when you aren't trying to snap my spine like a carrot stick," he laughed and stood up, holding his hand out for Shadow to take. A gentle smile graced Shadow's features and he let his hand find itself in Sonic's, aiding him off the bench and onto his feet.